1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of performing a network search (e.g., for web sites) that permits entities in the search results to trade search ranking positions in exchange for monetary payments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within this application several publications are referenced by arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citations for these, and other, publications may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of all these publications in their entireties are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application for the purposes of indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art.
A widely accepted dictum about Internet content is that “everybody wants it, but nobody wants to pay for it.” This is especially true, and quite acutely felt, in the business of web searching. Building a high-quality web search engines is an expensive and formidable proposition for various reasons. These include investments in hardware, software, personnel, maintenance, and especially the need to maintain constant availability and high quality even as web content evolves rapidly in volume (currently major search engine search from among 3.3 billion web pages) as well as variability of formats (HTML, including servlet pages, forms/templates, newsgroups, news feeds, blogs, image/media-rich pages, pages in various languages).
Despite the numerous challenges involved in building a web search engine, it is unclear if this industry can sustain itself profitably in the long run. With end-users not particularly keen on paying for search services, search engine rely on revenue from paid placement, paid inclusion, and targeted advertising to make their profit. The repercussions of this situation are not good news for users of the web: the nearly insurmountable technical and financial barriers that exist for new entrants might lead to lack of competition, and eventually, to compromising the quality of web search. Given that search engine are one of very few ways of bringing order to an otherwise chaotic web, the lack of a thriving search engine industry could ultimately undermine the richness of our web browsing experience.
The invention described below provides a method to infuse a limited form of market economics into the ranking of search results. The invention creates incentives for search engine to build and maintain very high quality ranking methods, and for content creators to build excellent web sites on specific topics. Furthermore, the invention ultimately enhances the quality of the search experience for the users of search engines.